HEW master station and method for communicating in accordance with a scheduled OFDMA technique on secondary channels

Abstract

Embodiments of a high-efficiency WLAN (HEW) master station and method for communicating in accordance with a scheduled OFDMA technique on secondary channels are generally described herein. An access point is configured to operate as part of a basic-service set (BSS) that includes a plurality of high-efficiency WLAN (HEW) stations and a plurality of legacy stations. The BSS operates on a primary channel and one or more secondary channels. In accordance with some embodiments, the access point may communicate with one or more of the HEW stations on one or more of the secondary channels in accordance with a scheduled OFDMA communication technique when the primary channel is utilized for communication with one or more of the legacy devices.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An apparatus of an access point (AP) configured to operate as part of a basic-service set (BSS) that includes a plurality of high-efficiency (HE) stations and a plurality of legacy stations, the BSS operating on a primary channel and one or more secondary channels, the apparatus of the access point comprising: memory; and, hardware processing circuitry coupled to the memory, the hardware processing circuitry configured to:
 communicate with one or more of the HE stations on one or more of the secondary channels in accordance with a scheduled orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) communication technique when the primary channel is utilized for communication with one or more of the legacy devices; 
 refrain from communicating with the legacy station on any of the secondary channels when concurrently communicating with the one or more of the HE stations on one or more of the secondary channels and the legacy station on the primary channel; and 
 communicate with the one or more of the HE stations on one or more of the secondary channels in accordance with the scheduled OFDMA communication technique while concurrently communicating with the legacy station utilizing only the primary channel in accordance with a contention-based communication technique. 
 
     
     
       2. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the scheduled OFDMA communication technique is a non-contention based multiple-access communication technique used for communicating with the one or more HE stations, and wherein the contention-based communication technique includes a carrier sense multiple access/collision avoidance (CSMA/CA) technique, a carrier sense multiple access/collision detection (CSMA/CD) technique, and an enhanced-CSMA/CA (e-CSMA/CA) technique. 
     
     
       3. The access point of  claim 2 , wherein when a transmission opportunity (TXOP) is obtained on the one or more of the secondary channels but not obtained on the primary channel, the access point is configured to:
 transmit an HE control transmission on the one or more secondary channels at the beginning of an HE control period comprising the TXOP to schedule communications with at least some of the HE devices during the HE control period on one or more of the secondary channels; and 
 either transmit downlink data to the scheduled HE stations during the HE control period on the one or more secondary channels based on scheduling information provided to the scheduled HE stations in the HE control transmission, or receive uplink data from the scheduled HE stations during the HE control period on the one or more secondary channels based on the scheduling information provided to the scheduled HE stations in the HE control transmission, and concurrently transmit to the legacy station on the primary channel during the HE control period when transmit downlink data to the scheduled HE stations, or concurrently receive from the legacy station on the primary channel during the HE control period when receiving uplink data from the scheduled HE stations. 
 
     
     
       4. The access point of  claim 3 , wherein the HE control transmission includes at least a schedule indicating channel resources for communications with the HE devices during the HE control period in accordance with the scheduled OFDMA technique, wherein the channel resources comprise subspaces for HE channels having HEW channel bandwidths within the secondary channels, wherein the HE channel bandwidths comprise one or more of 10 MHz, 5 MHz, 2.5 MHz, 1.25 MHz, and 1 MHz sub-portions of a 20 MHz channel bandwidth to define respectively 10 MHz, 5 MHz, 2.5 MHz, 1.25 MHz, and 1 MHz HE channels, and wherein transmissions on the HE channels are configured to have symbol times aligned within a 20 MHz channel at least for a legacy portion of a preamble. 
     
     
       5. The access point of  claim 2  wherein the primary channel comprises a 20 MHz channel and the secondary channels include one or more of 20 MHz channels. 
     
     
       6. The access point of  claim 2  wherein the primary channel comprises a 40 MHz channel and the secondary channels include a 40 MHz channel. 
     
     
       7. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the access point is configurable to be in either a transmit mode or a receive mode, wherein during the transmit mode, the access point is configured to concurrently transmit:
 HE downlink data to the one or more HE devices on the one or more of the secondary channels; and 
 legacy downlink data to the legacy device on the primary channel, wherein during the receive mode, the access point is configured to concurrently receive:
 HE uplink data from the one or more HE devices on the one or more of the secondary channels; and 
 
 legacy uplink data from the legacy device on the primary channel. 
 
     
     
       8. The access point of  claim 7 , further configured to refrain from transmitting the HE downlink data to the one or more HE devices on the one or more secondary channels without a concurrent transmission of the legacy downlink data to the legacy device on the primary channel when an upcoming uplink packet is predicted to be received from a legacy station on the primary channel. 
     
     
       9. The access point of  claim 8  further configured to:
 contend for bandwidth that includes the primary channel and one or more of the secondary channels during a contention period; 
 when a transmission opportunity (TXOP) is obtained on the one or more of the secondary channels but not obtained on the primary channel, the access point is configured to:
 refrain from communicating on the one or more of the secondary channels with the one or more HE devices at least when the access point expects to receive packets from legacy within the TXOP and unless the access point is concurrently transmitting to the legacy station. 
 
 
     
     
       10. The access point of  claim 1 , wherein when the primary channel is busy, the access point is further configured to:
 contend for bandwidth on the one or more of the secondary channels during a contention period; 
 when a transmission opportunity (TXOP) is obtained on the one or more of the secondary channels, the access point is configured to:
 communicate with at least some of the HE stations in accordance with a scheduled OFDMA technique on the one or more of the secondary channels during the TXOP. 
 
 
     
     
       11. A method performed by an access point that is part of a basic service set (BSS) that includes a plurality of HE stations and a plurality of legacy stations, the BSS operating on a primary channel and one or more secondary channels, the method comprising:
 communicating with one or more of the HE stations on one or more of the secondary channels in accordance with a scheduled orthogonal frequency division multiple-access (OFDMA) communication technique when the primary channel is utilized for communication with one or more of the legacy devices; 
 refraining from communicating with the legacy station on any of the secondary channels when concurrently communicating with the one or more of the HE stations on one or more of the secondary channels and the legacy station on the primary channel; and 
 communicating with the one or more of the HE stations on one or more of the secondary channels in accordance with a non-contention based multiple-access communication technique while concurrently communicating with the legacy station utilizing only the primary channel in accordance with a contention-based communication technique. 
 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 11 , wherein the access point is configurable to be in either a transmit mode or a receive mode, wherein during the transmit mode, the method comprises concurrently transmitting:
 HE downlink data to the one or more HE devices on the one or more of the secondary channels; and 
 legacy downlink data to the legacy device on the primary channel, wherein during the receive mode, the method comprises concurrently receiving:
 HE uplink data from the one or more HE devices on the one or more of the secondary channels; and 
 
 legacy uplink data from the legacy device on the primary channel. 
 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 12 , further comprising refraining from transmitting the HE downlink data to the one or more HE devices on the one or more secondary channels without a concurrent transmission of the legacy downlink data to the legacy device on the primary channel when an upcoming uplink packet is predicted to be received from a legacy station on the primary channel. 
     
     
       14. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions for execution by one or more processors to perform operations to configure an access point that is part of a basic service set (BSS) that includes a plurality of HE stations and a plurality of legacy stations, the BSS operating on a primary channel and one or more secondary channels, the instructions to configure the access point to:
 communicate with one or more of the HE stations on one or more of the secondary channels in accordance with a scheduled OFDMA communication technique when the primary channel is utilized for communication with one or more of the legacy devices; 
 refrain from communicating with the legacy station on any of the secondary channels when concurrently communicating with the one or more of the HE stations on one or more of the secondary channels and the legacy station on the primary channel; 
 communicate with the one or more of the HE stations on one or more of the secondary channels in accordance with a non-contention based multiple-access communication technique while concurrently communicating with the legacy station utilizing only the primary channel in accordance with a contention-based communication technique. 
 
     
     
       15. A high-efficiency (HE) station configured to operate as part of a basic-service set (BSS) that includes an access point and a plurality of legacy stations, the BSS operating on a primary channel and one or more secondary channels, the (HE) station comprising hardware processing circuitry that is configured to:
 communicate with the access point on one or more of the secondary channels in accordance with a scheduled orthogonal frequency division multiple-access (OFDMA) communication technique when the primary channel is utilized for communication with one or more of the legacy devices; 
 receive an HE control transmission on the one or more secondary channels at the beginning of a HE control period, the HE control transmission including a schedule for communications with at least some of the HE devices during the HE control period on one or more of the secondary channels; and 
 either receive downlink data during the HE control period on the one or more secondary channels based on scheduling information provided in the HE control transmission, or transmit uplink data during the HE control period on the one or more secondary channels based on the scheduling information provided in the HE control transmission.